Rage
by SamZ
Summary: AU! It has now been two years since the accident that gave Danny his powers, and he's still the only one who knows the "side effects". Can he keep it that way even after he lets his old friends back into his life?
1. Chapter 1

The halls of Casper High, lit by the dim school lighting, was buzzing with the voices of students excited that it was their lunch break, and for the fact that they didn't have to learn anything at that moment.

Danny Fenton slowly and cautiously opened his locker, making sure none of the messiness was going to topple out on him when it was fully opened. When he was finally assured that the pile of overdue schoolwork and notes that were tossed in and forgotten about was stable, he opened it up and took a small paper bag off the top shelf that was specially reserved for his lunch.

He slammed his locker shut before anything could fall out, and carried his lunch into the cafeteria, where most of the students were already chatting away with their mouths full at their "clique's" table.

There were the nerds, the geeks, the band geeks, the losers, three tables for the "normal" students, the A-list, then there were four tables for the loners. That's where he usually sat, getting a table to himself, and eating his bag lunch in peace, but today his usual empty table just didn't seem as inviting. There was nothing different about it, and he didn't have any plans to sit anywhere else, but the table just seemed to be saying "Don't sit here."

He looked around at the other tables. Everyone seemed to be in their rightful place except him. His eyes rested on Sam and Tucker sitting at the "loser" table. They were the only ones there, but they were talking and laughing happily just like they used to before...

Danny's thoughts trailed off there. After the accident that gave Danny his ghost powers, Sam and Tucker started prying into his life.

They didn't know he had gotten ghost powers from it, but he started running off and acting strangely afterwards. They became too persistent, and eventually, he stopped answering their calls, saying he had stuff to do after school, and they saw less and less of each other till they just stopped seeing each other at all. Danny regretted it for a while, having to separate from them like that, but he knew they would have the same reaction as the rest of the world would. Fear. And he didn't want them to be afraid of him. In the two years since then, he had made some friends in the Ghost Zone.

They were just normal teenagers, only they were dead... Anyway, back to the matter at hand, Danny didn't know what to do. He looked at Sam and Tucker's table then his. Theirs, his... He looked back and forth until he finally made up his mind. He didn't know what invisible force made him do this, but he headed toward Sam and Tucker's table. The "loser" table.

He approached nervously, wondering if they would even let him sit there. He stood there by the table, making Sam and Tucker look up. Almost immediately, their expressions became one of surprise.

There was an awkward silence for a moment while Danny was trying to figure out what to say. He hadn't talked to them in over a year, and now he was here, about to sit at their table like he did every day before the accident. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...

But he didn't leave yet. "Erm..." He started, finally breaking the silence. "Mind if I sit here?"

His question seemed to snap Sam, who was sitting closest, out of her shock and she immediately elbowed Tucker in the arm so he would scoot over. She scooted with him so that the end of the table where Danny was standing was available for him to sit on.

Danny smiled when Tucker rubbed his arm where Sam's elbow has surely left a bruise. "Thanks." He sat down, setting his bag lunch out in front of him.

Sam smiled back, obviously happy to have Danny back sitting with them again. "So...Why the change of heart?" She asked. Though she was happy to have him there, she was still curious as to why he was there. Tucker was staring at him too, but with more of a 'Are my eyes deceiving me?' look.

Danny reached into his lunch bag and pulled out a slightly soggy sandwich with cheese and sad looking lettuce hanging out the sides. "I honestly have no idea." He said before biting off a corner of his sandwich.

Sam kept her eyes on Danny, ignoring her salad. "And should we be expecting you every day?"

Danny swallowed his bite before talking, to prevent accidentally spitting the food out in mid sentence. "I don't know that either..." He answered.

Sam finally turned and stabbed her lettuce, not managing to get much on her spork, but she chewed on it anyway.

"Ok, but if you're going to be our friend again..." Tucker spoke up for the first time since he sat down.

Danny inwardly groaned. He knew this was going to end in a "You have t be completely honest with us." Or some such nonsense.

Which was why he was surprised to hear: "Then you're buying at the Nasty Burger after school today."

He smiled at that. "Deal."


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the school day passed fairly quickly and, to Danny's relief, ghost free. He hoped with all hope that existed, that it would stay that way until after he departed from the Nasty Burger. He frowned as he thought anxiously of all that could possibly happen this afternoon while he was catching up with his friends, but shoved the thought aside. He twirled his pencil in his hand as he ignored the teacher's monotonous drone of information. Every couple minutes he would glance at the clock above the door, watching time progress slowly until an hour finally passed and the bell rang, signaling the end of school.

Danny threw his notebook, which was no fuller now than it was when class had started, into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and left the room. He didn't bother heading toward his locker; Everything he needed was in his backpack. Instead, he headed to where he remembered Sam and Tucker's lockers were. They were there, sure enough. Sam leaned against her closed locker, while Tucker dug through his locker, trying to find some papers that he needed for homework that night. He finally pulled them out with an "Aha!" and held them in the air triumphantly for a moment before stuffing them in his backpack with everything else.

Sam smiled and shook her head at his antics before finally noticing Danny.

"Ready to go?" She asked him, glad that he actually decided to show up.

He nodded his head in return. Tucker slug his backpack over his shoulder, signaling he was ready as well. "Then let's go."

They all headed for the doors and the infamous arguments about weather technology or nature was better began. Danny smiled at his friends; They hadn't change a bit. Unfortunately, now he didn't feel like he could intervene and take both sides like he used to, without it feeling awkward. So he just laughed quietly at the bickering, which took place all the way to the nasty burger.

It turned out, Sam and Tucker still sat at their usual table in the corner. Danny hadn't actually been here since...He couldn't remember. A long time.

They ordered quickly; all of them getting their usual meals. Tucker got his Mega Mighty Meaty Meal, and Sam got her Tofu Burger. Danny smiled as he ordered a regular Nasty Burger, and payed for them all, as he promised. It seemed like nothing had changed at all.

Once they were all settled at their table, happily munching, a conversation finally began.

"So Danny," Sam said, "How's Jazz? Is she still dating Steve Levry?" She said the name with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"Yeah, I can't believe how long they've lasted. They're planning on going to college together soon though."

Tucker laughed. "I bet she'll meet all kinds of guys there. They probably won't last too long."

Sam and Danny laughed and agreed. None of them felt any tension or awkwardness anymore, and for the rest of the night, as they were catching up, telling jokes and teasing each other,it was as if Danny had never "left" in the first place.

The next time any of them looked at the clock, it was 8:30.

"Wow. We've been sitting here for four and a half hours!" Tucker exclaimed in a surprised tone.

Danny turned to look at the clock for himself, and seeing that tucker was right, He stood up. "Oops, I was supposed to be home half an hour ago. I have an early curfew because I'm grounded." He explained.

"Why? What'd you do?" Tucker asked.

Danny smiled. "I came home late for curfew."

"So they made curfew earlier. That's gonna work." Sam said in her most sarcastic voice.

Danny rolled his eyes. "I know, right? bye guys." He turned to leave, when Sam's voice stopped him.

"See you tomorrow?"

It was a simple question. They _saw_ each other every day, but Danny caught the meaning. Would they be friends again?

"See you tomorrow." He answered.


	3. Chapter 3

Danny walked back quickly, thanking whatever force kept the ghosts from attacking tonight. The walk seemed much too short, since Danny knew angry parents awaited him, and he met said waiting angry parents the second he walked in the door. They were there waiting on the couch, glaring at him.

"Where were you?" Maddie asked in a frighteningly calm voice.

"I was at the Nasty Burger." He answered truthfully for once.

"With whom?" She demanded. It was even menacing when she used proper grammar on him.

"Sam and Tucker." He replied.

Both parents were taken off guard by that. He hadn't hung out with any friends that they knew of for a long time. It was hard for Maddie to stay mad after that, since she was secretly delighted they were back together again. She could think of nothing better for her son's mental health than his two friends. However, she had to keep a stern face.

"Don't let it happen again. Now go to your room and think about what you've done."

Danny resisted rolling his eyes and put on a fake ashamed look. He turned and walked up the stairs without another word.

After he closed the door of his room, he wasted no time in walking to the other side, opening the window, and slipping out into the cold air. He shut the window behind him, and turned to see another figure on the brick ledge, just next to him. He was alarmed for just a moment before he realized it was just Jazz, no doubt sneaking out to meet her boyfriend.

"Jazz." He acknowledged.

"Danny." She replied. Then they both turned to go back to their own business. Both of them snuck out every night, making a silent agreement with each other not to tell their parents.

Jazz edged to the corner of the building and began using the gutter pipe to climb down, and Danny waited till she was down and out of sight before simply leaping off the ledge and landing quietly and gracefully on the sidewalk below. He knew better to transform in or in close proximity of his house anymore, since his parents had put ghost alarms everywhere they could think of, so he ran off down the street, until he was a safe block away and as he rounded the corner, looking to make sure nobody was around, he shifted easily into his ghost form and took off from the ground, heading for the alley where he knew his ghost friends were waiting.

He knew he didn't have to worry about being tired for school the next day. He found out about a year and a half ago that when he was in his ghost form, his human form, (wherever it went) slept, and when he turned human again in the morning, it was as if he had gotten a full eight hours of sleep during the night. It wasn't quite as fulfilling as normal sleep, and he didn't dream at all, but it was fine with him.

He finally descended in the middle of a confusing maze of alleyways, where he saw the familiar glow of ghost auras. Sure enough, when he landed, he was surrounded by the ghostly friends he had made in the Ghost Zone during the past two years.

"Hey Danny." Danny's best friend of them all, a teenage ghost from Afghanistan named Sahrid, greeted him first, followed by the other two who were there, lounging on the dumpsters.

"Hey man" Max waved casually.

"What's up Danny?" Max's girlfriend, Sharon, nodded her greeting.

"Hey guys," Danny greeted back, taking his usual spot atop a dumpster next to Sahrid.

"What did you do today Danny?" He asked, genuinely interested, "you look happy."

Danny smiled at Sahrid's observance. This was one of the reasons he like him so much. "Do you remember those two people I told you about a while back, Sam and Tucker?"

A spark of remembrance lit in his eyes and he nodded. "Yeah, those two who you said you couldn't hang out with anymore because you were afraid they might find out about your powers, right?"

"Yeah, them. Well, I hung out with them all afternoon, and I had so much fun. I know it's taking a risk, but I think I'm in control of my powers enough now that they'll be less likely to see anything they shouldn't."

Sahrid nudged him on the shoulder. "Well good for you!" He said happily. "If you ever tell them you're a ghost, you should introduce me. I'd like to meet them."

Danny nodded, though he didn't think he would tell them anytime soon. He would always worry about weather they would accept him, or be afraid of him. He decided to get his mind off the subject before he pondered it for the millionth time since he'd got his powers.

"So, what are we doing tonight?"

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged. "I don't know," Max replied. "Got anything in mind?"

Danny got a mischievous look in his eye and nodded. "Well, my sister snuck out at the same time as me tonight, and I thought we could pull an invisible prank on her or something."

"Sounds like something we would do." Sharon commented. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Danny smiled.

"I bet she went to the park to meet her boyfriend. Let's go."

They all stood and lifted off the ground easily. They flew top speed toward the park, and it was in sight within 30 seconds. They all went invisible at the same time as if there were some unspoken command, and they relied on their other senses not to crash into each other.

As soon as they flew over the wall that enclosed the park, they spotted their targets. Jazz and Steve were sitting on a bench by the fountain, making out. The group of invisible ghosts shared a quiet giggle.

Danny, still trying hard not to laugh loudly, flew down behind the bench, and, still invisible, leaned in towards their heads. "BOO!" He yelled as loud as he could.

Jazz and Steve both screamed, and they broke apart. They were on their feet in a split second, looking around for the source of the disturbance. As they looked around, Sahrid flew down right next to Steve, and turned his belt intangible with a swift movement. It did the trick; his pants fell down, and he screamed again, alarming Jazz, who whipped around, to see him in his polka dot boxers. She began to laugh, while Steve tried to run, but several things kept him from getting anywhere. Ironically, it wasn't his fallen pants that he tripped over, but his shoelace, which neither Danny, nor his friends had even messed with. This caused them all to burst out laughing, startling Jazz and Steve, who both took off running. Steve, too panicked to pull his pants back up so he could run easier, ended up losing them about halfway out of the park, causing Danny and his friends to laugh even harder.

They all phased back into visibility, rolling on the ground and clutching at their sides from laughing so hard.

"We scared the pants off him!" Max managed to say through his laughter.

It was a good night indeed...


End file.
